Ensure undisturbed service to FFs, senior citizens

Bangladesh Bank (BB) has asked the non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs) to ensure uninterrupted service to the customers who are freedom fighters, senior citizens, widows and people with disabilities.

The central bank’s Department of Financial Institutions and Markets (DFIM) issued a circular in this regard on Wednesday.

It said seating arrangements in NBFIs should be made for these customers on a priority basis. The NBFIs have also been instructed to provide services on time.

However, a BB official said the circular was not issued over any allegation that senior citizens were not getting the desired services at the NBFIs.

“We haven’t received any such complaint. We have issued this directive in response to a request from the Finance Ministry,” the official told The Business Post.

According to BB, 35 NBFIs currently operate across the country. Of those, two are state-owned, one is the subsidiary of a state-owned commercial bank, and 19 were started by private domestic initiatives and 13 by joint venture initiatives.